Citic Securities, Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities Co. were suspended from lending money and stocks to new clients for three months, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said last week. The regulator punished nine other brokerages for offenses including allowing unqualified investors to open margin finance and securities lending accounts, it said.

"The comments by the regulator Monday night seem to have, to some degree, calm investors," said Gerry Alfonso, a China equity sales and trading director at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

The GDP report Tuesday suggests stimulus efforts have started to boost demand, helping full-year economic growth come close to the government's target. The central bank cut interest rates for the first time in two years in November and the government accelerated the approval of infrastructure projects to boost an economy mired in a property slump and overcapacity.

GDP expanded 7.4% in 2014, the slowest pace since 1990 and in line with the government's target of about 7.5%. Industrial production rose 7.9% in December from a year earlier, compared with the 7.4% median estimate of analysts. Retail sales increased 11.9%, compared with the 11.7% seen by economists.